Car-door-operating mechanism.



R. V. SAGE.

CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1913.

1,170,677. Patented Feb. 8,1916.

WMTED TATES PATEN @FFTQE.

RALPH V. SAGE, OF WESTIVIONT BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAB-DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application filed. June 7, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH V. SAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of lVestmont, in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door-Operating Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled.

in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in railway freight car construction and more especially to the car door operating mechanism and the manner of mounting the op erating shafts therefor.

One object of my invention is to provide center bearings for the operating shafts of car door mechanism well adapted to those of the hopper bottom type, which will be simple in construction, cheap to manufzacture, light in weight, but of sufiicient rigidity and strength to withstand the pressure, strain and shocks produced by the weight of the lading when dropped thereon, or in transit, or while discharging the lading from the car.

With these objects in view, I rivet, bolt or secure directly to the inner side of each inside hopper sheet, a rolled plate, each having a horizontally bent inturned integral flange along its upper edge, which is attached to the lower flange of each of the center sills of the car, thus forming a rigid connection between the inside hopper sheets and the center sills. Each bent plate projects downwardly below the edge of the hop? per and has extending therethrough, a perforation, within which, the door operating shaft is journaled.

Another object of my invention is to increase the thickness of the curved upper end of the connecting lever or link which is swung over and extends beyond the operat ing shaft, when the doors are closed, with its end attached to the crank arm, whereby extra strength is secured where needed, and the increased weight of the end of said lever will aid in holding the doors more securely closed and prevent them fromjbeing accidentally opened.

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now, in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the one sheet of drawings accompanying this specifi- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. d, 1916.

Serial No. 772,231.

cation and in which like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the views.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional elevation through the center of a portion of a car, taken on the line I-I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line II-H of Fig. 1 through the center of a car, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing, a portion of a center sill and enough of the intermediate part of the hopper sheet to illustrate the position of the bearing plate member and the manner of attaching the same to the inner hopper sheet and the lower flange of the center sills of the car. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the outside hearing casting for the outer end of the door operating shaft with the pawl, ratchet and locking dog mounted thereon, and a portion .of the hopper casing on which it is secured.

Referring now to the various characters of reference on the drawings :1 indicates the car door operating shaft having its outer bearing in a casting 2 riveted to the outside hopper sheet 3 and its inner end and intermediate portion mounted in bearings 41 and 5 respectively, which are attached to the inner side of each of the inside hopper sheets 6 at either side below the center sills 7 These inside hopper sheets 6 extend upwardly on either side of the center sills 7, their upper ends being preferably bent inwardly at an angle as shown, and to which the downwardly extending ends of the central ridge 8 of the car are riveted.

The bearing plate members 4 and 5 are each made of a flat rolled plate of substantially the same size and shape and are each provided with a flange 9 bent at right angles to the body of eachplate along one side thereof, the corners of the bends, however, being slightly rounded, as shown.

The bearing plate members 4 and 5 are each attached vertically to the inner side of each of the inside hopper sheets 6 of the car next to the center sills? and extend rearwardly from the center of the car toward the end thereof beyond the lower edge of the hopper sheets, and each has a perforaand are riveted to the bottom flange of each of the center sills 7 respectively. In attaching the bearing plate members 4 and 5 to the inner hopper sheets 6 and to the center sills 7, in this manner a very efficient bearing member is produced, which, at the same time, forms a rigid connection between the center sills 7 and the hopper sheets 6 and further stifi'ens the car structure.

The operating shaft 1 has its inner end and intermediate portion journaled in the perforations 10 formed in the bearing plate members 4 and 5. Mounted centrally upon the operating shaft 1, between these two bearing members 1 and 5 and spaced apart by means of the tubular sleeves 11, and keyed, or otherwise rigidly secured to the operating shaft to prevent turning, is a crank arm 12 which is bifurcated at its outer end to receive the upper enlarged curved end 13 of a lever or connecting link 14 which is pivoted thereto by means of a pin connection 15, while the opposite end of the connecting link leis pivotally attached-to the door spreader bar 16 by meansofeye bolts 17.

The outer end of the operating. shaft 1, which is journaled in the casting ion the outside hopper sheet 3, extends beyondthe same and is squared as at 18 to receive the ratchet wheel 19. A pawl 20 for engagement with the ratchet 19 and a lockingdog 21 are pivoted on the casting 2 by means of which the operating shaft 1 is locked.

By forming the center bearings for the operating shaft as above described, very cheap and effective constructions areprovided, the extra thicknessand strength of the curved upper end 13 of the connecting link 14, which is thrown over the operating shaft when the doors are closed, assists in.

1. A bearing plate member foracar door. operating shaft, comprising a perforated. flat rolled plate with a flange bent at right. angles along one of its edges, said-bearing.

'plate member being riveted to the hopper sheet of the car with itsflange attached to a sill-of the car and-forming arigidconnection between the center sill and the hop.- per sheet.

" Copies of this. patentmay be obtainedforfive cents each, addressing the f (iomn' jssionerpf Patents 2A center bearing for a car door operating shaft, comprising a perforated flat rolled plate riveted to the outside of the inner hopper sheet, a flange bent at right angles alongthe upper edge thereof riveted to the bottom flange of the center sill and forming a. rigid connection between the center sill and the hopper sheet.

3. A center bearing for a car door operating shaft, comprising a flat rolled plate riveted to the inside hopper sheet of the car, the downwardly extending portion of same being perforated to receive the operating shaft, andprovided with a flange bent at right angles to the perforated portion and riveted to the center sill of the car and forming a rigid connection. between the center sill and the hopper sheet.

1. A center bearingfor a car door. operating shaft comprising a Hat rolled plate riveted to the inside hopper sheet of the car and extending downwardly therefrom beyond the edges of the hopper, a perforation in said. downwardly extending portion adapted to receive the operatingshaft, and.

a flange bent at right angles to the said downwardly extending portion and riveted to the center. sill ofthe car, thereby rigidly, connecting the hopper sheetwith the center.

sill.

5. In a railway car, a plurality of rolled plates. attached to the inside hopper. sheets and extending downwardly therefrom on either side of the center sills, perforations therein forming center bearings for thecar.

door operating shaft, each of, said plates having a flange bent at right angles to the downwardly extending portion andattached thereby to the lower flanges of'the center sills and forming a rigid connection between theinside hopper-sheets and the center sills.

6. In a railway car, a pair of rolled plates disposed one on each side of the center sills, attached to. the insidehopper. sheets and extending. vertically downwardly therefrom longitudinally ofthe car, a perforation in each of said downwardly extending por: tions adapted touformIbearings for the. car door operating shaft, a horizontal flange formed at right angles along thetop edge of each of the said pairs of rolledxplates, said horizontal flanges-being attached to the bottom flange of the center sills and rigidly connectingthe. hoppersheets with the center.

sills.

V In testimony, whereof I hereto affix my signaturein the presence of two witnesses RALPH V. SAGE.-

lVitnesses:

ELMER SEAVEY, M. Dawson.

was ns y i OJ 

